Career Accelerator

The World of Optical Engineering: Hardware Careers

Taking your hardware from the drawing board into reality can be an intimidating process, fraught with concerns about tolerances, manufacturability, and alignment. Dr. Cromey will break down the process, giving examples with the optical hardware he is responsible for on the Roman Space Telescope. This practical session will also cover some general engineering best practices to help you build the right approach into the design work at the beginning of a project.

About the Speaker

Benjamin Cromey is a Senior Optical Engineer at Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado. He received his Bachelors in 2015 in Optical Sciences and Engineering studying 3D Holographic Displays at the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, and liked it there enough to stay for his PhD as well, which he received in 2020. His dissertation focused on the design and applications of all-reflective multiphoton microscopes and the lasers that power them under Dr. Khanh Kieu, using the microscopes to study objects as diverse as pancreatic cancer tissue and gems and minerals.
At Ball Aerospace, Ben works in the Civil Space Business unit, where he is the optical design and analysis lead at Ball for the Wide Field Instrument on the Roman Space Telescope. He also stays involved in exciting technology development areas for future missions, investigating extremely accurate measurement devices. Ben also stays involved in educational outreach activities through Ball, sponsoring senior design projects, and giving science talks at comic con events.
Ben has been an Optica member since 2012, and was very involved in the U of A student chapter between undergrad and grad school, serving four years in officer roles. He served as the conference chair for the IONS Tucson 2016 conference, and had a wonderful time participating in IONS Okinawa 2017. Ben attended the Seigman school in 2018, and has served as a reviewer for applicants to that wonderful event for several years. He has peer reviewed for several Optica Journals, and also serves on the scholarship selection panel for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, and on the Education and Outreach Committee for SPIE. Ben found out about optics at an outreach event as a high school student, which is part of why he is so passionate about spreading the word about this great field of study to other younger students. He had several excellent mentors as a student, and is excited about the chance to pay it forward by helping Optica with professional development materials in his new role as Ambassador.